29 Nov 2021

Reigning queens across all pageant country wide have been urged to embrace each other and work collectively on community building projects.

The call was made during the launch of Reigning Queens Pitso  in Gaborone on Saturday.

Reigning Queens Pitso is the first of its kind and it is the brainchild of MRS Botswana Brand, the initiative is set to accord queens a platform to keep building up the pageant industry and share community empowerment ideas and projects.

It also seeks to keep encouraging the queens to assist the government in efforts to tackle life challenging social ills such as Gender Based Violence (GBV) matters, forced child marriages, among others.

The Reigning Queen Pitso was attended by Miss Teen International 2021/2022, Gimhani Perera, MRS Botswana 2021/2022, Ambrociah Samboko, the first ever Miss Global Botswana 2021/2022, Sakshi Bhargava, Miss Supermodel International 2021/2022, Chedza Setimela, Miss Independence Kgatleng, Waone Tladi and Miss Earth Botswana, Mosa Balesamang as well as Miss little Princess of the world, Palesa Motsewetsho.

Former Miss Botswana 2018 and 2019 Queens, Moitshepi Elias and Oweditswe Phirinyane respectively also graced the launch and gave words of encouragement and motivation to those set to represent the country on international pageants next year.

Speaking during the launch, the director and founder of MRS Botswana, Kgalalelo Lesetedi said it had come to attention that most queens embarked on community building projects and other activities aimed to lessen the impact of social ills as part of their exercises during pageants.

However, years later after coronation, some of the projects slowly faded away despite the positive messages they carried, she said.

She attributed lack of new ideas and relevant resources to keep developing projects as some of the contributing factors to the matter. She however explained that the Reigning Queen Pitso was set to bridge some of those challenges.

“Messages relayed in a collective effort carries more weight, and these Queens have large numbers of followers that they interact with on different platforms. I am hopeful that through Reigning Queens Pitso initiative our messages on issues we intend to tackle will bring in the desired results,” she said.

The pitso will be held annually, the queens also made pledges that will be reviewed often to keep up its relevance and progression towards the success of the initiative.

The current MRS Botswana, Samboko pledged to advocate for marriages, child protection and welfare while Miss Teen International Botswana Perera pledged to work collectively with other teens encouraging them to stay away from uncalled practises that could lead to bullying, teenage pregnancies and substance abuse.

Besides addressing social ills, the initiative also intends to encourage empowerment projects such as farming, business related ideas and self-reliance activities. ENDS